Training: Base Building

In our previous newsletter we let you know how to make your own training plan. By building a solid base, your body will be prepared for the more intense workouts that will be added in the latter stages of the preparation for a long distance event.

During the base period, the intensity of the workouts will be low and volume (amount of hours) will slowly increase over time. Let your body slowly adapt and increase training volume with maximum of 20% per week. Because of the higher impact of running, volume increase of running workouts should be kept to a maximum of 10% per week.

To define how much time you should spend in each sport, you can e.g. look at the split times of your last triathlon or make an estimated guess:

1:16 swim (= 2 min/100m) (11% of the total time)
6:00 bike (= 30 km/u) (53% of the total time)
4:00 run ( = 10,5 km/u = 5min41/km) (36% of the total time)
Use these percentages as guidance.

Identify your weakest discipline of the three and give that one extra attention.

With a 12 hour training week you can split the hours e.g.:

1,5 uur swimming
6,5 uur biking and
4 uur running.
More frequent workouts are favourable, so e.g. swim 2x, bike 3x, run 3x.

Good luck!